>> i love it was grounded in reality. >> all right. it's been 21 and a half minutes. my work here is done. good night. [applause] >> from comedy central's world news headquarters in new york, this is the daily show with jon stewart. (cheers and applause) captioning sponsored by comedy central >> welcome to the daily show, my name is john oliver. i'm still here, unfortunately, for jon stewart who is currently attempting to break the world record for smashing the most watermelons with his head in under two minutes. he's-- (laughter) es he's good. he spent the time well. my guest tonight author of a new book about the life of riply's believe if or not

creator robert riply neal thompson is here. but before we left last week we discussed how ridiculous it was that the 2016 presidential election speculation had already begun. could it be hill roe clinton, probably. could it be chris christie, possibly. could it be rand paul, absolutely not. (laughter) >> that is not going to happen. but all this speculation launched our new segment can't you at least wait until jon stewart comes back. because as you know, 2016 is three years away. and i'm only here for two more weeks. so it is not too long to wait. but the potential candidates just keep coming. >> next presidential election is nearly three and a half years away but senator cruz's travel itinerary looks more like a presidential candidate than a freshman senator. >> what's going on here. are you running for president? >> john, we are having a national debate about which

direction the country should go. >> you were born in canada. could you-- are you even eligible to be president of the united states. >> my mother is born in delaware, she is a u.s. citizen so i'm a u.s. citizen by birth. >> that shouldn't be a problem then. because as we know republicans are nothing if not understanding on that particular issue. as long as your mother was born in the united states, you could be born anywhere on earth and be completely accepted as a viable presidential candidate. okay. so cruz is kind of in. or he really loves spending time in iowa so he's definitely in. anyone else? >> are you laying the groundwork now for 2016. >> i'm open to looking at a presidential race in 2016 but got a little ways, got elections in 2014. >> ah, send your sweater vest. you are more than welcome to run again but you might have to freshen up your campaign a bit. how about this time you only wear sweater sleeves.

>> you obviously have a closet full somewhere. that is fiscally responsible. now at this point you are probably thinking the clown car is full. but-- (laughter) >> that's the thing about clown cars. just remember, the legendary list of candidates there 2012. many of whom, lead in the polls at one point. remember herrmann cain once lead in the polls. did he have a chance in hell of becoming president? and please answer in german. >> nine, nine, nine. >> why danka. danka shun. so frankly the republicans better have something pretty special up their sleeve if they're going to try and beat what they did last time. >> donald trump last week confirmed the national review that he is again considering a run in 2016. >> do it. just do it. look at this. do it. i will personally write you

a campaign check now on behalf of this country which does not want you to be president but which badly wants you to run. so look before we get carried away here, you may not need to worry about who you are voting for in 2016. >> last month when the supreme court struck down section 4 of the voting rights act the court opened the floodgates to a tidal wave of state restriction. >> a tidal wave, a volcano of disenfranchisement, a shark-nado of voter suppression. yes, exactly. exactly. imagine your voting rights being subjected to this. >> that is let's rally what the supreme court has given states licence to do. but the obama administration is already gearing up for

battle. >> the obama administration today challenged voting laws it says discriminate on the basis of race. attorney general eric holder made the announcement in philadelphia pledging to focus first on texas within texas first, okay. apparently eric hold certificate apparent-- approaching voter rights protection like we his first day in prison. look, i'm going find the biggest-- there and beat the [bleep] out of him. i'm sending a message here. the other states will fall in line. (applause) but look, look, i've got to say what has texas done to deserve that? >> literally two hours after the court's ruling, texas official said they would begin enforcing a new voter requirement even though a federal court struck down the law because it quote imposes strict unforgiving burdens on the poor and racial minorities in texas. >> come on, texas. what were you doing for two whole hours? did it take you that long to

make the call because your hand was shaking too much from the excitement of being able to disenfranchise voters? and let's be clear. texas is not alone in its rush to implement restrictive new voting laws. in a phrase that is almost never uttered in a flattering context, florida is also leading the way. >> florida can go ahead with the voter purge. a lawsuit was filed last year to stop the state from taking names of suspected non-citizens off the voter roles. it was dismissed yesterday in a suit, lost its footing after the supreme court struck down part of the voting rights act. >> ah, yes, florida, where your grandparents and your right goes to die. but perhaps a surprise contender for most draconian voting rights legislation came from a little further north. >> last week north carolina passed one of the most restrictive voter suppression bills in the nation. a bill that slashes in half the state's early voting

period, then eliminates same day voting registration that requires voters to show a government issued i.d.. >> it doesn't stop there t also placing all voting booths on buoys so they are only accessible by yachts. now the thing that occurs to me in all of this legislation is what problems are you trying to solve? why are you doing this? >> the state elections board said that they've only had one document case of voter impersonation fraud in 2012. you say -- >> the important thing is enhancing confidence in elections. this is something that is about making sure that when people show up to vote they are who they say they are. >> okay, stop there. because as i believe has been established, the problem isn't people showing up to vote and not being who they say they are, it's person as in one, singular, one guy out of four and a half million people who voted in the last election.

(cheers and applause) >> honestly, you could have gotten the same results by just passing a bill that said dave can't vote, he knows why. so if that's not really the reason, then let's try this again. why are you doing there? >> according to north carolina's board of elections, a third of voters here without a photo i.d. are african-american. >> and there it is. goes to show it's true, always bet on black. actually, north car line' voter-- hey, who are you angry with? ! who are you-- the joke stands. actually, north carolina voter i.d. law is just the tip of a true [bleep]burg of the legislative session. >> in north carolina the republican control stated limit approved new limits on abortion clinics tacked on a bill designed to ban islamic sharia law.

>> hold on, let me just understand this you're adding abortion restrictions to legislation banning the making of laws based upon religious belief? that's like passing a bill banning high fructose corn syrup and adding a provision naming the state animal the gummi bear. now to be fair, to be fair, that was only the north carolina state senate. the state house did not do something as amazings attack an antiabortion limit on a antisharia bill. they tacked it on something else. >> what does abortion have to do with motorcycle safety? >> good question? (laughter) >> good question. that's a tricky one. is it that voters involve guys in leather jackets your parents didn't want you to date? s. >> remember last week we were talking about a new abortion bill in the state senate that was tied to sharia law ban, we talked

about that. >> we z this week the republican controlled north carolina house attached a similar bill to a motorcycle safety bill. >> that does seem ridiculous. abortions have nothing in common with motorcycle helmets. for one thing you can get a motorcycle helmet pretty much anywhere. but after-- after a north carolina legislative session like this, i think the big take away here might be your move, south carolina. oh, you thought you had craziest carolina all sewn up didn't you with your run away governors and rampant horse [bleep] and it gives me no pleasure saying this. you may be able to los los )bb0f[p"p"4dpñ

>> welcome back it was a gorgeous weekend here in the northeast, sunny, not too humid. if are you anything like me it was a perfect time to get outside, buy a bagel and head immediately back indoors to watch internet videos for a solid hour. specifically you choose cat videos, look, it's a cat playing what water. cats usually don't like water. but this particular cat loves it. you silly soggy cat! you silly cat. just harmless fun that everyone can enjoy. and then i made one crucial

mistake. i scrolled down through the comments and i swear this is true, bang, obama is a [bleep] idiot. for no reason. now look, i count stand njh 84's point if this cat was somehow involved in a benghazi cover-up. but i'm pretty sure it wasn't. we don't have the evidence that suggests that. also, if the cat's name was obama it might make some sense. although it would still be a little harsh, it's just playing with some water. put truth is, people now try to cram their politics into everything. we saw it just recently. >> with all the attention that has been lavished this week on the royal baby this seems like a good moment to take a look at the issue of infant mortality here in the united states. >> does it? does it seem like a good opportunity? (laughter) >> because i don't know t actually seems like an even better opportunity to not

bring that up. but look, that is just one guy. i'm sure everyone else was respectful on a universally happy occasion. >> even though we do not cast babies as future figure heads in this country, the fact is that the accident of where and to whom we are born determines a tremendous amount about our life's outcomes. >> we don't know who is going to break the baby the news if he becomes an american citizen, which could happen, when obamacare is going to mean to him. >> it's a baby! it's a baby! you shouldn't have talking points about a person before that person can talk. please, please understand, the royal birth was like britain's super bowl. totally overhyped but for a brief moment it brought us together. think about it, everyone loves the super bowl. if you don't like the game there is the halftime show. if you don't like that there is the commercials. it transcends politics and brings people together. >> this is president obama's second super bowl there office so we thought we

would look at what his changed over the last four years. especially when it comes to the money you're spending. >> going have a cold one at the super bowl paeferment the price per beer up 6.5% from four years ago. >> chicken legs from 51 cents per pound, gas more than 56%. since super bowl 43. >> please don't ruin sports. the whole joy of sports is that it's an anesthetic, an escape from current affairs. >> moving on to dwight howard, he's leaving l.a. heading to houston. >> to play for the houston locates in the nba. >> there, that's what i'm talking about, a sport story, a play, moving from one to the other, mildly interesting and it has no wider implications whatsoever. >> americans for tax reform did the math behind howard's decision. the higher tax liability in l.a. that includes state and federal tax was leave him with an annual salary of just over $10.3 million. in texas where there is no

state income tax horx ward will be receiving $12.4 million each year. and that is your difference. >> look, that's not how free agency works. players naturally gravitating too where taxes were the lowest every nba player would be playing for the cayman island conches. so look, fine, fine, if the media is going to take all of our innocent pleasures from sports to babies to kints and shove them through some partisan prism, i guess there is no refuge left except nature herself, the great outdoors, far from the political babble. >> after months, years really, of anticipation, it is happened. washington's corps flower has bloomed. a giant rainforest plant living in the u.s. bot anic gaernds is a giant flower that smells oddly like rotting flesh. >> lovely.

a flower, a lovely blooming miracle of nature. sure it stinks of death, people, but at least it doesn't stink of politics. >> the corps flower is now at its peak smell that is a real thing, an will remain open for the next few days. after that the flower will begin to collapse in on itself embarking on a tra jeck other very similar to michele bachmann's congressional career. (cheers and applause) and there you go. leave it to cable news to take the smell of rotting flesh and somehowinkkkkk

my guest tonight curious man, please welcome neil thompson.

neil, we were talking a little backstage, how is it possible that this is the first and only biography written about such a weird american man. >> such a weird american man. a brilliant weird american man. i think it just sort of is forgotten guy, this overlook lifd. i'm not sure how it happened but i'm glad i stumbled upon it. >> let's put it in context this was one of the most popular men in america over decades. >> yup, yup. >> hugely influential during his day, hugely wealthy, famous, popular. he was sort of the pt barnum character crossed with hugh hefner, traveled the world. >> that is a hell of a cross. >> i know. >> pt barnum crossed with hugh hefner that is an ungodly. >> okay. >> elmer fudd. >> oh my god. >> i can see it, yes. >> riply was inspiration for the original elmer fudd. >> that's how popular he was, how well-known he was. >> he was hugely, we now

know him mainly as those odd like at tk city believe it or not museums but he was a cartoonist at a time when cartoonists kind of ran american newspapers. >> yeah, yachlt it's interesting to track his story. and this is what i love about it, this rags to riches story, sow starts out as this poor buck toothed, stuttering, awkward misfit of a kid but finding something he is good at which is car took. he transfers that into believe it or not concept and little by little that grows. then becomes more popular. but he toiled in obscurity for a long time until he hit the big time in the 1930s. and that's when he took off and took this believe it or not idea to radio, to film, to museums. best selling books, in addition to his cartoons. it was also built around initially the cartoon which in the newspapers of his day that is how people got their visual, you know. he would draw pictures from some foreign place or of some religious fanatic in

india doing something horrible to his body and that's how people learned about other cultures. >> which he had often seen. it was thought that at one point he is was po ssibly the most traveled human beingng on earth. he was like a one-man walking internet for a while. >> he was. like the wick pedestrian yaf his era in a sense. what was great about researching his life is that he actually went to all these places that he brought to people in their daily newspaper or on their radio programs. he traveled obsessively. and to really remote corners of the world at a time when it didn't happen. the peak of his fame was during the depression. so he was really out there. >> yeah, he spanned an amazing time from the first world war through the wall street crash not second world war, somehow managed to be well in that whole time. did you like him as a man? >> i absolutely did. it's a good question thochlt you start researching somebody, something, you think you're going to like them and want to spend time with them. i never got board of this guy. >> i swung back and forth from kind of rooting for him thinking this is an underdog,

he has a childlike curiosity. he seems to sway from childlike curiosity to adult-like ignorance. >> well, you know. >> when he travel add broad he could be offensive. when i say could be, he could be and was. >> he could -- yes. he could be a total bother. he was the guy, the ugly american traveler. he would go someplace and flat out refuse to learn their language. >> or talk louder. >> to speak english louder that is how he dealt with foreign languages. >> and he seemed to see as a kind of curiosity but not a problem that needed to be solved. like he saw terrible problem with-- starvation in india and china and was affected by it but never to do something about it, he said whatever he witnessed he want ready to reform the world. and he talks about people like the zoo animals, look, check, i got them, got a lovely cartoon of that boy just starving in the corner, lovely. >> he was this anthropologist. i think he had some sympathy for the people he saw but

what codo about it, he was a cartoonist. i think he viewed his job as seeing weird stuff from around the world and bringing it back to america and teaching people about these other places. >> and then from the cartoons he then becomes a pioneer of radio technology. >> people cast in the bottom of the grand canyon is thought he is the first person to broadcast to the whole world and then a taferping its microphone to a parachute jumper so people can hear what it will be like jumping from a plane and what it sounds like is this. >> e oh my god. >> but did is that kind of curiosity that does s so appealing. >> yeah. and he's an appealing guy ultimately because he's such a goof bauchlt he find its everything curious and fascinating and interesting and weefermentd he's like a child. >> got it. >> it's a fascinating story, thank you so much for being here. >> curious manson the book shelves now, neil thompson.

>> that's our show, please join us tomorrow at 11:00,